Five new star-rated hotels in N. Sumatra

MEDAN (JP): North Sumatra will have five more star-rated hotels next year to accommodate the growing number of tourists visiting the province.

Henry Hutabarat, chairman of the North Sumatra Tourism Body, said here last week that the five star-rated hotels are currently under construction and expected to be ready by next year.

They include the three-star Novotel Soichi, Emerald Hotel, Hotel Semarak and Hotel Grand Angkasa and four-star AIHO hotel.

Henry said the demand for star-rated hotels in the province is steadily increasing in line with the increasing influx of tourists, especially from Taiwan and Japan. However, he did not give any further details on the figure of tourist arrivals in the province.

In addition to the five new hotels, Henry said, North Sumatra will have its first five-star hotel next year after the scheduled completion of the renovation and expansion project of the Tiara Hotel and Convention Center early next year.

Currently, North Sumatra has 53 star-rated hotels with 4,183 rooms, as compared to last year's figure of 48 star-rated hotels with 3,870 rooms. In addition to the star-rated hotels, the province now has 668 non-star hotels with 8,221 rooms.

Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, alone has seven star- rated hotels in operation, four of which are four-star hotels, including Tiara Hotel, Danau Toba International Hotel and Polonia Hotel. (gea/rid)